Griffin continues to shove, delivering career-best 9 K's

MIAMI -- Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin delivered one of his best starts of this still-young season on Friday night at loanDepot park, matching a career high with seven innings while setting a new personal best with nine strikeouts in the Nationals’ 3-2 victory over the Marlins.

Griffin, trusted to navigate the Marlins lineup three times, threw 103 pitches while continuing a stretch of consistency that has quickly earned the confidence of manager Blake Butera.

“He's just a super level-headed guy, pays attention to everything that goes on, does a great job in between starts of watching video,” Butera said pregame. “[He] sees if there's anything tendency-wise with hitters that he can take advantage of, and I think the biggest thing is, he's the same guy every day. He just does a great job of not riding the highs and the lows, just going out there and sticking to this process. And it's been really beneficial for him."

Griffin allowed two runs -- both in the first inning -- on four hits while utilizing his deep seven-pitch arsenal, leaning heavily on his cutter throughout the outing.

Miami’s first run came on a leadoff home run by Xavier Edwards, who connected on an elevated four-seam fastball. Otto Lopez doubled in the next at-bat, after Griffin had worked him up and away through the first four pitches before leaving an 81.5 mph splitter down and in.

The Marlins then cut the deficit to one when Kyle Stowers reached on a throwing error by first baseman Curtis Mead, allowing Lopez to score.

Despite the late pressure, Griffin continued an impressive run of form. Entering Friday, Griffin had not allowed an earned run over his previous 14 innings, tied for the eighth-longest active streak in Major League Baseball, per the Elias Sports Bureau, and the fourth-longest in the National League.

Griffin was coming off his first loss of the season, after he allowed three unearned runs over six innings against the Brewers in a 4-1 defeat last Saturday. He also issued a career-high four walks in that outing.

Even with the brief speedbump, Griffin entered Friday holding opponents to a .138 batting average with runners in scoring position this season (4-for-29), a trend that continued as he repeatedly worked out of trouble against Miami.